Gathering the Outcasts
Throughout this series, we’ve read God’s promises to outcasts, seen the first scripture where they begin to be realized, and read about Jesus’ interaction with an outcast – the woman at the well.
As we close our series on Gathering the Outcasts, we look at a beloved scripture from Luke. In it, Jesus offers guidance on how to treat folks whom we might label “enemies.” It’s good advice on how to treat all people.
Be Merciful
But I say to you who are listening: Love your enemies; do good to those who hate you; bless those who curse you; pray for those who mistreat you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who asks of you, and if anyone takes away what is yours, do not ask for it back again. Do to others as you would have them do to you.
“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive payment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. Instead, love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
Luke 6:27-36
Commentary
This passage occurs shortly after Luke’s account of what’s known in Matthew as the Beatitudes. It’s a passage which details the blessings bestowed upon those with traits considered less than admirable (but certainly not bad) by society. It’s one of the many passages in Luke where we witness a divine reversal, where Jesus flips the script on the culture of the time, proclaiming the worthiness of those considered unworthy or the blessedness of those considered too meek or mild to amount to much.
From there, Jesus gives these words, which further reverse the conventional wisdom of the time. In this passage, Jesus encourages people to resist the urges to hate, to other, to dismiss, to demonize, to make themselves the victim, or to villainize the different. In place of choosing hatred, bitterness, or hardened hearts, Jesus encourages people to “lend, expecting nothing in return” and to “love [their] enemies; do good to those who hate you.” This was deeply countercultural – and still is today.
We don’t often speak of others as our enemies – perhaps because we’ve been taught that we shouldn’t think of them as enemies – yet we all have certain groups of people about whom he harbor feelings of distrust, suspicion, fear, and even hatred. If we’re honest each of us have certain qualities, traits, or behaviors that will cause us to immediately write someone off as lesser. It’s not a good thing, but it is a human thing – a human thing which we need the Holy Spirit’s help to overcome.
Jesus tells us to love our enemies and do good to those whom we hate. We are called to let love cast out and override our sinful feelings – to choose community, fellowship, and grace over tribalism, nationalism, or any other -ism we might imagine. And when others hate us, we’re still to do good to them. That’s hard work, intentional work, which requires submission to God’s spirit and open curiosity about others. It is the core of this passage.
Jesus tells us that when someone strikes us on one cheek, we should offer the other also. For years, this text has been read as encouraging submission, our acceptance of violence towards ourselves and our own belittlement. In recent decades, a new reading has emerged which takes cultural context into account.
In this new reading, scholars discuss the role of the clean and unclean hand in biblical times (the “clean” hand was used for eating; the “unclean” hand for cleaning what comes out of us after eating). They assert that the original slap would have been done with the unclean hand – a severe insult to someone’s dignity – and that by turning the other cheek, one would force the slapper to either treat you as an equal or withdraw the insult entirely. This reading makes “turning the other cheek” a form of resistance, a method of fighting back nonviolently against oppression and insult. It becomes a way of asserting your own dignity when the world tries to take it away.
Both of these interpretations make sense alongside Jesus’ call to love our enemies and do good to those who hate us. The first calls for patience and is in lock step with the following phrase which calls on us to give our shirt as well if our coat is taken, and the second allows for some intentional proclamation of our own dignity even as we answer hate with love. It is up to the individual reader to sit with the Holy Spirit and determine which of these is the right reading for their faith at this time.
Beyond this, in this passage, Jesus encourages those listening to give their money away – to “lend, expecting nothing in return.” He lifts up a wild generosity – one most would call foolish – and tells us that gifting without expectation of repayment is the way to behave if we wish to be called “children of the Most High.”
This is, perhaps, the most challenging part of the passage to live into. None of us are chomping at the bit to give all our things away without hope of repayment or return on our investment, yet it is this foolish generosity that the early church practiced, and giving so generously brings an energy and reward all its own.
In closing, Jesus calls us to love like God and to “be merciful, just as [our] Heavenly Father is merciful.
This Week’s Questions
Which interpretation of Jesus’ charge to ‘turn the other cheek’ makes sense in your faith journey? Can you imagine an instance where the other interpretation might be the more accurate interpretation, either for you or someone else? What does this distinction reveal about the nature of scripture interpretation and how the Holy Spirit is active in our reading?
There is a push amongst some churches and political figures to have our government’s policies be based on the Bible. What would foreign policy, immigration policy, social policy, and the like look like based on this scripture? Is this what these officials are advocating? What similarities and differences do you see? Would basing our government’s policies on this text (this scripture or the Bible) be wise? Why or why not?
Regarding Jesus’ call to give without expectation, how do your finances factor into your faith? Do you give regularly without regard for what you may get out of it? Does your use of money align with God’s plan for you? How can you use your money to love others more fully?
A Blessing for Your Week
Beloved Child of God,
May love abound within you
May the Spirit soften you
To bless those who curse you
To pray for those who mistreat you
To turn the other cheek
To give your shirt along with your coat
To lend, expecting nothing in return,
To love
To love
To love
And to be merciful,
As God is merciful
Amen
Rev. Kelsey Sherazi 